Peltast
Peltast Tiny Aberration (Symbiont) Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), climb 10 ft. Armor Class: 16 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 13 Base Attack/Grapple: +0/+2 Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-3) Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-3) Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: Anesthetize, attach Special Qualities: Blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 3/slashing or piercing, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to poison, mimic shape, neutralize poison, resistance to electricity fire 5, share spell resistance, spell resistance 7, symbiont traits, wallcrawling Saves: Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +2 Abilities: Str 6, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12, Ego 9 Skills: Climb +11, Disguise +15, Hide +17, Move Silently +5 Feats: Stealthy, Weapon Finesse (B) Environment: Any urban or underground Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 1 (singly) or host +1 (when worn) Treasure: None Alignment: Always neutral Advancement: None Level Adjustment: — A well-worn, but seemingly sturdy leather glove lies on the ground. A peltast is a parasitic creature that mimics leather items in order to get near its prey and remain undetected. In its natural form, it is an amorphous, mottled brown blob about the size of three fists. Its skin texture feels like worn, but sturdy leather. Peltasts are fairly intelligent and opportunistic. They often follow humanoids, seeking to replace gloves or belts left laying about while their prey sleeps or bathes. Other times, they prowl around fresh kills of other monsters, taking advantage of many humanoids' predilections to loot the bodies of the dead. Peltasts do not breathe, make nearly no sound, and have no natural odor. Their tiny eyes are easily concealed, and their strong sense of smell and sensistivity to air disturbances and other vibrations allows them to effectively "see" with their eyes closed. Once a peltast finds its way onto a host's body (usually by being mistakenly donned as an article of clothing), it bites, releasing a powerful anasthetic while it feeds. A peltast requires little sustenance, needing to deal only 1 hp of damage to its host each day to sustain itself. Should its host become poisoned, it can neutralize the venom, keeping its host healthy. A peltast is sucsceptible to disease, and possesses no means to counter disease in its host, so it will quickly disengage and seek a more suitable host should such a situation arise. When immersed in water, peltast release waste byproducts, which stains and fouls the water. Peltasts never share hosts, and are not competitive for hosts. If a peltast senses the presence of another peltast already on a host, it seeks to find a different host for itself. For reasons unknown, peltasts prefer to feed on humans and goblinoids, and tend to avoid elves, dwarves, and other humanoids if given the choice of prey. A peltast is about 2 feet long (when stretched) and weighs less than a pound. Peltasts cannot speak, but understand Common and Undercommon. COMBAT Peltasts prefer to become attached to a host through mimicking a leather object, then becoming unwittingly donned by the host. If hungry enough, a peltast may seek to climb onto a sleeping victim and hope that the prey won't forget that it didn't remove its belt, glove, or other item. Anesthetize (Ex): A creature bitten by a peltast must succeed on a Spot check (opposed by the peltast's Hide check) to notice the attack. Attach (Ex): If a peltast hits with a bite attack, it latches onto the opponent’s body. An attached peltast is effectively grappling its prey. The peltast loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and has an AC of x, but holds on with great tenacity. Peltasts have a +12 racial bonus on grapple checks (already figured into the Base Attack/Grapple entry above). An attached peltast can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached peltast through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the peltast. Foul Water (Ex): A peltast placed in water exudes waste materials; this fouls a 5 ft cube of water. A creature that drinks or bathes in fouled water must succeed at a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1d4 rounds. If the 5 ft cube is part of a larger body of water, the foulness dissipates in 1d6 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based. Mimic Shape (Ex): A peltast can assume the general shape of any leather object of Diminutive size, such as a glove, a boot, or belt. The creature cannot substantially alter its size, though. A peltast's body feels just like leather, but gives off no noticeable odor. Anyone who examines the peltast can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the peltast's Disguise check. Of course, by this time it is generally far too late. Neutralize Poison (Su): At will, a peltast can negate any poison introduced into its host's body (not just ingested poisons), protecting its host from any ill effects. Share Spell Resistance (Su): A peltast grants its host its spell resistance, which stacks with any SR the host already possesses. Symbiont Traits: While attached to a host, a symbiont acts on its host's turn each round, regardless of its own initiative modifier. It is not flat-footed unless its host is, and it is aware of any danger its host is aware of. If clearly visible, opponents can attack the symbiont instead of the host creature. This works the same way as attacking an object. The symbiont gains the benefit of the host's Dexterity modifier to AC instead of its own, and gains any deflection bonus to AC the host has as well. Its own size modifier and natural armor bonus apply. Attacking a symbiont instead of its host provokes an attack of opportunity from the host. A symbiont never takes damage from attacks directed at the host. Like a worn magic item, a symbiont is usually unaffected by spells that damage the host, but if the host rolls a 1 on its saving throw, the symbiont is one of the "items" that can be affected by the spell. A symbiont uses its host's base saving throw bonuses if they are better than its own. Any spell the host creature casts on itself automatically also affects the symbiont. Additionally, the host may cast a spell with a target of "You" on the symbiont instead of on itself. The symbiont may do likewise with any spell or spell-like ability it uses. The host and symbiont can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the host's or the symbiont's type. Spells targeted on the host by another spellcaster do not affect the symbiont, and vice versa. Wallcrawling (Ex): A peltast need not make Climb checks to traverse a vertical or horizontal surface (even upside down). It retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class while climbing and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. Skills: A peltast has a +10 racial bonus on Disguise checks. A peltast has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. They use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb checks. Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #89 (1984). Peltast, Greater Tiny Aberration (Symbiont) Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), climb 10 ft. Armor Class: 16 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 13 Base Attack/Grapple: +0/+2 Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-3 plus blood feeding) Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-3) Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: Anesthetize, blood feeding Special Qualities: Blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 5/slashing or piercing, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to poison, mimic shape, neutralize poison, resistance to electricity fire 5, share spell resistance, spell resistance 9, symbiont traits, wallcrawling Saves: Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +4 Abilities: Str 6, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 17, Ego 17 Skills: Climb +16, Disguise +18, Escape Artist +8, Hide +18, Move Silently +10 Feats: Stealthy, Weapon Finesse (B) Environment: Underground Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 2 (singly) or host +1 (when carried) Treasure: None Alignment: Always neutral Advancement: None Level Adjustment: — A translucent, multifacted, fist-sized gem lies on the ground nearby. A greater peltast is a parasitic creature that mimics gems in order to get near its prey and remain undetected. In its natural form, it is an amorphous, translucent blob about the size of three fists. Its skin texture feels as hard as a true gem. Greater peltasts are exceptionally intelligent and opportunistic, and have innate magical abilities. They know the value large gems hold to many sentient creatures, and use that fact to their advantage. Greater peltasts do not breathe, make nearly no sound, and have no natural odor. Their have no visible organs, and their strong sense of smell and sensistivity to air disturbances and other vibrations allows them to effectively "see" with their eyes closed. When immersed in water, peltast release waste byproducts, which stains and fouls the water. Peltasts never share hosts, and are not competitive for hosts. If a peltast senses the presence of another peltast already on a host, it seeks to find a different host for itself. For reasons unknown, peltasts prefer to feed on humans and goblinoids, and tend to avoid elves, dwarves, and other humanoids if given the choice of prey. A greater peltast is about 2 feet long (when stretched) and weighs less than a pound. Greater peltasts cannot speak, but understand Common and Undercommon. COMBAT Greater peltasts prefer to feed on sleeping or otherwise helpless creatures. They utilize their spell-like abilities to help acquire meals. Anesthetize (Ex): A creature bitten by a greater peltast must succeed on a Spot check (opposed by the peltast's Hide check) to notice the attack. Blood Feeding (Ex): A greater peltast must feed on blood each day; it may do so by biting a living creature, in which case it must deal 3 points of damage per day to sustain itself. A greater peltast may also gain sustenance from the blood of dead creatures, and it can lap up the equivalent of 1 point of damage from each creature of at least 1 HD. If a greater peltast is able to feed on more than the equivalent of 3 points of damage per day, it gains the remainder as temporary hp (maximum 10), which last for 24 hours. If a greater peltast does not feed sufficiently for a day, it becomes fatigued. Starting on the third consecutive day that it does not feed sufficiently, a greater peltast takes 1 point of Con damage per day, which cannot heal naturally until the greater peltast has fed sufficiently at least one day. Foul Water (Ex): A greater peltast placed in water exudes waste materials; this fouls a 5 ft cube of water. A creature that drinks or bathes in fouled water must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1d4 rounds. If the 5 ft cube is part of a larger body of water, the foulness dissipates in 1d6 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based. Mimic Shape (Ex): A greater peltast can assume the general shape of any gemstone of Diminutive size. The creature cannot substantially alter its size, though. A greater peltast's body feels just like a real gem, and gives off no noticeable odor. Anyone who examines the greater peltast can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the greater peltast's Disguise check. Of course, by this time it is generally far too late. Neutralize Poison (Su): At will, a greater peltast can negate any poison introduced into its host's body (not just ingested poisons), protecting its host from any ill effects. Share Spell Resistance (Su): A greater peltast grants its host its spell resistance, which stacks with any SR the host already possesses. Symbiont Traits: While attached to a host, a symbiont acts on its host's turn each round, regardless of its own initiative modifier. It is not flat-footed unless its host is, and it is aware of any danger its host is aware of. If clearly visible, opponents can attack the symbiont instead of the host creature. This works the same way as attacking an object. The symbiont gains the benefit of the host's Dexterity modifier to AC instead of its own, and gains any deflection bonus to AC the host has as well. Its own size modifier and natural armor bonus apply. Attacking a symbiont instead of its host provokes an attack of opportunity from the host. A symbiont never takes damage from attacks directed at the host. Like a worn magic item, a symbiont is usually unaffected by spells that damage the host, but if the host rolls a 1 on its saving throw, the symbiont is one of the "items" that can be affected by the spell. A symbiont uses its host's base saving throw bonuses if they are better than its own. Any spell the host creature casts on itself automatically also affects the symbiont. Additionally, the host may cast a spell with a target of "You" on the symbiont instead of on itself. The symbiont may do likewise with any spell or spell-like ability it uses. The host and symbiont can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the host's or the symbiont's type. Spells targeted on the host by another spellcaster do not affect the symbiont, and vice versa. Wallcrawling (Ex): A greater peltast need not make Climb checks to traverse a vertical or horizontal surface (even upside down). It retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class while climbing and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. Skills: A greater peltast has a +10 racial bonus on Disguise checks. A greater peltast has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. They use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb checks. Originally appeared in Halls of the High King (1990). Category:Abberations